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sweetssheen 2. W. J. LLOYD 8v' W. PRIEST..

SEAT POR VELOGIPEDBS.

Patented Mar. 24, 1891.

(No Model.)

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

W. J. LLOYD & W. PRIEST. SEAT FR VELOGIPEDES.

No. 448,969. Fgltented Mar. 24, 1891.

l lili inmllllllms Mfmegf fnv-anfang- ANITED STATES ArtNr rricn.

SEAT FOR VELOCIPEDES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 448,969, dated March24, 1891.

Application tiled November 29, 1890. Serial No. 373,086. (No model.)Patented in England May 18, 1889, No. 8,311 g in France December12,1889, No. 202,544, and in Belgium December 12, 1889,1To. 88,823.

To @ZZ whom. t may concern.-

Beit known that we, WALTER JOHN LLOYD and WILLIAM PRIEST, of Birmingham,England, subjects of the Queen of Great Britain, have invented certainImprovements in Connecting the Seats or Saddles of Bicycles, Tricycles,and other Velocipedes to the Bodies of the Same; and we do herebydeclare that the following is afull, clear, and exact decription of theinvention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, and for which we have obtainedpatents in Great Britain, No. 8,311, May 18, 1889; France, No. 902,544,December 12, 188),and Belgium, No. 88,823, December 12, 1889.

Our invention has forits object to connect the seats of bicycles,tricycles, and other velocipedes to the bodies ot the same by an elasticconnection capable ofadjustment so as to suit riders of differentweights.

To the adjustable seat-post, which is adjusted in the iixed socket ofthe framing, as is Well understood, we fix at right angles two crosspins or axes, one of the said axes being at the top of the seat-post andthe other preferably about three inches below the former. On each end ofeach of the said axes a short iiat bar orlink turns. The other ends ofthese links are jointed to vertical bars, which bars extend a shortdistance above their junction with the links. The said vertical barshave at top horizontal arms, to which the seat or saddle is iixed byscrews or otherwise, or the tops of the vertical bars are directlyconnected to the spring-frame of the saddle. The said vertical bars inrising and falling are always preserved parallel to the adjustableseatpost by which theyare carried. The said Vertical bars, andconsequently the seat or saddle, are pressed upward by means ot one ormore coiled springs, the tops of which are connected by an arm andadjusting-screw to the top of the seat-post, the bottoms of the saidsprings being connected to the bottoms ofthe vertical bars. Then thereis no rider on the saddle or seat, it takes its highest position. lVhenthe rider seats himself, his weight, operatin g through the saddle andvertical bars, puts the spring or springs into a state of ten- Sion, theSaid springs lengthening more or less, according to the weight of therider. As the vehicle travels, the tremulous motion communicated to itby the asperities of the road is not transmitted, or is transmitted onlyto a limited extent, to the saddle and rider, the spring or springs byits or their rapid elongations and contractions neutralizing toa greatextent the uneven motion of the vehicle.

By means of the adj Listing-screw referred 6o to the action of thespring can be regulated.

Figure' 1 of the accompanying drawings represents in side elevation aSafety bicycle, tothe body of which the seat or saddle is connected byan adjustable elastic connec- 6 5 tion constructed according to ourinvention. Fig. 2 represents in side elevation, and Figs.

3 and 4 represent elevations of opposite ends, the adjustable elasticconnection detached, drawn to a larger scale. Fig. 5 represents an 7celastic or split collar for the tubular socket of the velooipede.

The sameletters indicate the same parts in the several figures of thedrawings.

a is the cylindrical seat-post of the saddle, adjustable inthe fixedsocket b of the framing of the bicycle (see Fig. 1) by means of thespring-clip c, as usual. The seat or saddle CZ is not connected directlyto the seat-post a, but is connected by means of an adjustable 8oelastic connection constructed as follows:

e e are two parallel bars, the upper ends of which are secured to thespring frame or support d2 of the saddle or seat d, but we do notconfine ourselves to any particular way of connecting the bars c c tothe seat or saddle or to any particular kind of saddle-support. The saidvertical bars c c are jointed by means of the two pairs of links ff andg g to the seat-post a, the said seat-post being pro- 9o vided withcross-axes a2 a3, to the ends of which the pairs of links f g arejointed. The vertical bars c c in rising and falling are alwayspreserved parallel to the adjustable seat-bar d, to which they areconnected by means of the pairs of links ff and g g. The vert-ical barse e and saddle carried by them are pressed upward by the strongsupporting coiled springs 7L h, by means of which springs the rider andthe seat or saddle and connecting ico parts are supported and balanced,as hereinafter described. The bottoms of the said supporting-springs 7i`7L are connected to the bottoms of the rc1-tical bars e c, and the saidsprings are connected at top to the adjustable seat-post a through thehorizontal arm "i, adjusting-screw 7;, and cross-piece l, having eyes atits ends, to which eyes the tops ol' the springs are hooked, as bestseen in Fig. 3. The middle of the cross-piece Z is made into a screwboxm, in which the adj Listing-screw la works. The head of the4adjListing-screw 7s is pressed to its seat'2 on the end oi' thehorizontal arm i on the seat-post by the coiled springs 7L 71, so thatwhile the said screw 7a is capable ot` being rotated it is preventedfrom rising' and falling. The result of this arrangement is that whenthe head of the screw is turned in one or other direction by a Spannerthe screw box fm, of the eross-piece Z rises or falls upon the saidscrew,vand the tension of the coiled springs 7L 7L can be. adjustedwith. great nicety to suit riders of different weightsthat is, thesprings can be so regulated as to balance the weight of the rider, thesaddle, and connecting parts. Vhen there is no rider on the saddle d, ittakes its highest position, being raised and supported by the adj ustedsprings 72y 7i. XVhcn the rider seats himself on the saddle d, the saidsaddle and the vertical bars c descend, taking the dotted positionindicated in Fig. 2, and the weight of the rider operating through thevertical rods e puts the springs 7L 7L into a state of tension, the saidsprings lengthening more or less aceording to the weight of the rider.

3y the use of the adjustable elastic eon neetion for the seat or saddledescribed and illustrated the treinnlous motion communicated to theVehicle by the asperities of the road on which it is traveling is nottransmitted, or is transmitted only to a-limited ex tent, to the saddleand rider, the springs 7L 71l by their rapid elongation and contractionneutralizing to a great extent the uneven motion of the vehicle.

For the purpose of enabling seateposts of different diameters to bereadily secured in the tubular socket l) of the bicycle-frame, we usewith the seat-post a split or elastic collar of the kind represented inelevation,seetion, and plan in Fig. 5, and marked j). The said split orelastic collar p is placed on thc seatpost below the boss ot' the lowercrossing axis cv, and the mouth ot the said elastic collar is cupped tolit on the lower part of the said boss. The collar j) is adjusted in thetubular socket 7) to the proper height, and the adjusted seat-post isfixed in the said socket, and the said collar p iixed on the seat-postby closing the clip c (see Fig. l) by its screw-pin.

Instead of using two supporting coiled springs, as described andillustrated, a single coiled spring may be used. In this case the singlespring maybe secured to a cross-piece at the bottom of the two bars e e.and at top to a short arm projecting from the middle of the cross-pieceZ, or three or more coiled springs may be used, and in place of coiledsprings india-rubber springs may be used.

Our invention may be applied to tricycles and other Yelocipedes wherethe saddle or seat is supported after the manner in which the seat orsaddle ot a Safety bicycle or trieyele is supported.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of ourinvention and the manner in which the same is to be performed, wedeclare that we claim as our inventionn The combination of the twoparallel vertical bars e c, a seat or saddle connected with the upperends of said bars, the post c, having cross-arms a2 ai and provided witha forwardlyprojeetingarmaextendedbctweenand in front of the bars e e,the two pairs of links ff and g g, that connect said vertical bars e ewith the cross-arms a2 d3 of the post a', and an adjustable spring orsprings 7L, connecting the forwardly-curved lower ends of the bars c cwith the end oi' the forwardly-prejecting arm `i of the post e,substantially as shown and described.

Dated the 9th day of June, 1890.

YVALTER JOHN LLOYD. XVILIIAM PRIEST. L. s l

tYtnesses:

GEORGE SHAW, RICHARD SKnRnn'r'r.

